Change Of Heart
by enigma77
Summary: Jeff was the king of high school. He was among the best of the best...until it all came crashing down. Through the pain, both physical and mental, he can turn to only one person. *Jeria*
1. Breakdown

**A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting a new story 'cause I'm working on two others but I had to do it. This is based off of something that someone I know told me and it just pulled at my heart. Anyway, I hope you read, review, and enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: Nothing that is recognizable is owned by me.**

_Change Of Heart_

The abuse never stopped. I knew an ending would not come. But I always hoped and prayed. The pain began when I was in ninth grade, and it became an ongoing thing. I had joined the football team years earlier and had begun playing basketball not long after. I had the girl of my dreams, Maryse, with me, and, at first, everything was perfect. Then, my world came crashing down.

**x-X-x**

I was standing by my locker after school, gathering my books. My friend, Shannon, was next to me, waiting like always. I heard footsteps coming toward us.

"Jeff," an accented voice said. I looked up and saw Maryse before me, looking as beautiful as ever. "We need to talk." She glanced in Shannon's direction. "Alone."

Shannon was speaking before I could. "Alone, huh? Then why don't you tell your stupid bimbo friend to get out of here?" Shannon didn't like the popular crowd, especially Maryse and her friend, Alicia, but he put up with them for me.

Maryse sneered at my friend. "Fine. Alicia, go wherever it is that you have to go. I need to speak to Jeff." While she spoke to Alicia, she didn't take her eyes off of Shannon. "Happy now? You can leave anytime now."

Giving me a pat on the back, Shannon started to leave. "I'll talk to you later, man. See ya." Once he was gone, I turned to Maryse.

"'Kay. Shoot. What do you wanna talk about?"

She looked straight into my eyes. "Jeff, we've been together for a while now, and things have been great. You're great. It's just…" She paused and looked down at the floor. When she looked back up at me, her eyes were sorry. "It's not working. I…I think we need to break up."

That took me by surprise. "What are you talking about? I thought everything was going fine. What…what happened?"

"I don't know," she said and I could tell she was being honest. "Things changed. I changed. Even you changed. I thought I loved you. I think at the time, I did. But I guess it just got, I don't know, flat." She shrugged, showing indifference. "I mean, it's not like we were going to be together forever. You know that none of these stupid, little high school relationships ever work." At that moment, it occurred to me that she really didn't care. "Sorry, Jeff."

Her eyes showed no emotion as she left me standing at my locker like an idiot. I was unable to wrap my mind around it. She had just broken up with me, showing no signs of caring at all. It felt like the horrifying start of a terrifying nightmare.

Before anyone saw me, I got myself together. I rode the bus home in silence, thinking about what Maryse had said to me. _I guess it just got, I don't know, flat._ What did she mean? I didn't think there was anything wrong. Maybe I had just been blind this whole time.

"Hey," I heard a girl say. When I looked up to see who was talking, I was greeted with a pair of green eyes. Maria Kanellis. "You look like you're in deep thought," she said. "What's going on?"

I shook my head. "Nothin' much. How 'bout you? Anything spectacular been happening with you?" I had known Maria since kindergarten. We weren't the closest of friends, but we talked occasionally. She wasn't one of the preppy girls. They were somewhat afraid of her, probably because she was different than them. Her flaming red hair was the perfect example of that. She didn't want to be an imitation of Maryse. All Maria wanted was to be herself. She reminded me of myself in that respect. Never waiting for the next fad, just being yourself, no matter how weird you look.

She sighed. "No. Just a lot of homework has been thrust upon me. I haven't been here for a few days. The teachers are really mad at me." Her bottom lip jutted out in the form of a pout.

I chuckled at her statement and at her expression. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I had the flu once and was gone for, like, a week, and the teachers went all crazy on me. The week after that was hectic."

"I personally think that the school just hates us. Especially the principal. Mr. Regal really has it in for us. The lunches are gross, we never get to go outside when the weather is nice. We're in Connecticut; it's barely ever hot out. And when it is, we're cramped in stupid classrooms." She shuddered. "No teachers like the students. They just pretend that they love us."

"I feel the same way," I said. "Those people are gonna be so happy when we are gone. I think Mr. Striker will be jumpin' for joy and doing a happy dance on the last day of school."

"No, that won't happen until we graduate. Then, he'll know for sure that he won't see us again." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "You know, he hates Mickie the most."

"What? Mickie? Everyone loves her. She's the only kid that the teachers really do like." I couldn't believe that it was possible for someone to dislike a girl like Mickie James. She was pretty much the nicest person in the world.

"Well, I overheard him talking to Ms. Guerrero, and he just kept badmouthing her. He said that she never shuts up in class, or something like that."

During this time with Maria, I completely forgot my problems with Maryse. I was now too engrossed with the fact that Mr. Striker couldn't stand Mickie James. "There's a bunch of others that talk constantly in his class. There has to be something else."

"I don't know. She does great on her tests and everything else. She's such a sweetheart though. How can he live with himself, hating her?"

"That makes no sense at all. She's friends with everyone."

As Maria nodded in agreement with me, the bus was coming to a stop. She looked up. "Um. This is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave me a little wave and then walked away, out of the bus.

I waved back at her, all of a sudden feeling depressed. I was alone, with no one to talk to because I didn't like most of the people riding with me. My coldness toward some of them did not stop them from trying to make small talk. Some of them even tried to have a full conversation with me.

One of the guys, Mike Mizanin, sat on my seat next to me. This was a guy who really didn't like me, but usually pretended to be my friend. A classic high school move. "So, Hardy, I heard you and Maryse are over." He smirked at me. "What'd you do?"

"Mike, I really don't wanna talk about it," I told him.

"Why?" he asked, taunting me. "You think you didn't do anything wrong? 'Cause you must've. Maryse didn't break up with me when we were together. No, that was all me. I got rid of her."

Of all the people in the world, why did I have to get stuck in this conversation with him? If it was Maria, I probably wouldn't have minded so much talking about it, but I couldn't tell her. I certainly did not want to tell Mike.

"Dude, just leave me alone," I pleaded.

"No, Hardy. I want to know every little detail. What did you do to Maryse?" he continued. Mike had a thing where if he didn't know something, he'd always find a way to get it out of a person, but I wasn't breaking.

"No, Mike. Just go away. It's my business and Maryse's. Not yours." Shannon would have been proud of me. I didn't usually stick up for myself so this was kind of a big deal.

"Uh-uh. You're not getting away that easily. I'm gonna find out. You can count on that. I'll get it out of Maryse. I guarantee it." Mike was acting as snobby as ever and I had to admit that I was a little afraid of him.

The bus was coming to another stop and I hastily realized that it was mine. "Uh, Mike, I, uh, gotta go." He angrily moved out of the way. I nearly ran off the bus. As it sped off, I actually did begin to run down the driveway. When I got inside my front door, I looked around the living room and spotted my brother, Matt.

"Whoa, Jeff," he said as soon as he saw me. "What's wrong with you. You came in that door in an awful hurry."

"Um, yeah." How could I explain this one? "I was just… I had a bad day at school and really wanted to be home. I'm just tired."

"All right," he warily said. I didn't think he believed me for one second. "Why don't you go take a nap then or something?"

"I'm not sure if I can. I always had a problem sleeping in the middle of the day." I laughed nervously.

"Oh, you little liar. I know for a fact that you sleep in almost every class," Matt said, catching me in my falsehood. Thankfully, all he did was let out a laugh. "Just sit down and watch some TV with me."

I put my backpack on the floor and took a seat next to Matt on the couch. He had a car and wasn't forced to ride the stupid bus like me so he could get home a lot quicker. Therefore, he always got the television in the evening. "What's on?"

Matt pointed at the screen. "It's a rerun of 'Rock Of Love.' What's up with all of these stupid celebrity dating shows? None of them even make sense."

"I don't know. At least 'Daisy Of Love' isn't on. That's probably the worst out of all of them. She's not even a celebrity," I ranted. "And on top of that, she's nasty looking."

"Right on, brother." Matt lifted his hand, signaling a high five. I granted him one. "None of the girls on this show even look half decent. They all just look like…"

We both laughed, not needing him to say the word. "Hey, where's Dad?" I asked since I hadn't seen him around nor was his car in the driveway.

"Oh, I think he said he had to go buy some groceries or something. You know, his weekly routine."

I simply nodded. Since our mom died when we were younger, my dad had to do a lot of the things that the woman usually does in the household. We knew it was hard on Dad, but there wasn't much that we could do.

Time went by slowly and I still never told Matt what had happened that day. He probably wouldn't even really care. He'd just laugh and say I was acting like a baby. I love Matt and everything but sometimes he can be pretty insensitive.

When I heard the door open, I jumped, only to find out it was only my dad.

"Hey, boys," he said, holding large paper bags. "How'd school go today?"

Matt went on some long spiel about what his entire day consisted of. Not one detail was left out. Apparently, he was in a very descriptive mood.

"Sounds good," Dad said. "How about you, Jeff? What's going on with you?"

I gave him my stock answer. "No. We did everything we do everyday. There wasn't anything new. All boring."

He gave me a slight nod. "Not eventful, huh? My day wasn't either. Work and shopping. Not as fun as it sounds, gentlemen."

There was silence for a few moments until Matt spoke up. "Dad, Shane's probably gonna be comin' over later. Is that cool?"

I suppressed a groan. Shane Helms and I weren't always on good terms. He had a knack for annoying me. I think, for him, it was just natural, basic instincts.

My dad didn't even have to think. He loved Shane. "Yeah, sure. Have him over."

"Awesome," Matt said. "I think he said he'd be here around six. I'll call him to make sure." He walked out of the living room, holding his cell phone.

Dad turned to me. "Jeff, why don't you invite Shannon to come over? Haven't seen him for a while."

"Yeah, he's been busy after school. There's some science thing that he's doing." I pondered over that for a second. "Maybe he won't have to do anything tomorrow. I'll ask him later."

My dad didn't say much more on the subject so I took that as my cue to leave. I went into my bedroom. My laptop sat on my computer. I hadn't used it for some time so I figured I may as well get on and send an email to Shannon. All that was in it was that I really needed to talk to him. It was urgent. If there was anyone I could talk to about Maryse, it was Shannon. I trusted him with all of my deepest, darkest secrets. He was as true as any friend could be.

I hadn't instant messaged anybody in a long time so I decided I should do that. I had nothing better to do after all. I noticed that one of Matt's friends, Adam, was online. Matt and Adam had a falling out a few years earlier because Adam stole my brother's girlfriend at the time, Amy. But since then, they each made amends and were all friends. Even Matt's new girlfriend, Eve, was okay with the whole situation.

Adam was shocked to hear from me. I hadn't had a real conversation with him in a long time, but he was happy to hear from me nonetheless. Our online chat was brief but it did feel good to talk to him. We said out good-byes after chatting for about fifteen minutes.

I got back onto my email account and saw that I had one unread message. It was from Shannon so I opened it.

_Hey, Jeff. What do u need 2 say?_

I didn't want to have this talk on the Internet so I replied and told him I'd have to tell him tomorrow. I also asked if he'd be able to come over to my house then. When he replied a few minutes later, he said he could and it eased my mind. I knew I could count on him.

I was just about ready to sign out when a new message popped up. I was surprised to see that is was from Maria.

Hi! Shannon gave me ur email address so I figured I'd send u one. How's everything going? :)

I typed up a quick reply, still startled that she sent me a message. I told her I was fine but bored and that I'd talk to her on the bus. Her reply was that she would save me a seat.

Smiling to myself, I went into the kitchen and fixed myself a sandwich. As I was about to take the first bite, my cell phone vibrated. I looked at the screen to see who it was. Many surprises were coming to me; it said it was Mike. The text had two sentences: _She told me what you did. You're gonna pay._

His words made no sense to me. I hadn't done anything. What had Maryse told him? As far as I knew, she and I had no problems until she broke up with me. More importantly, though, how was he going to make me pay?

I was becoming more and more scared of this guy. I had barely ever said two words to Mike and now he was threatening me. Nothing was going my way.

I didn't text him back. I ate my sandwich and then went back into my room. I thought maybe taking a nap would help, but it didn't. Matt and Shane were yelling and screaming at the TV in the other room. I just lay in my bed, thinking of all the odd things that had happened today.

Hours passed and finally I was able to find sleep. I expected to have a dreamless night as I usually do, but sometimes we don't get what we wish for…

In my dream, or as I'm going to call it my nightmare, none other than Mike was there. The moment I saw his face, I cowered. Just seeing him there brought chills to my spine. He, along with his other basketball friends, stepped closer to me. I backed up until I was up against a wall. There was no escaping now. They glared at me, their eyes blazing.

"You're gonna pay, Jeff," Mike said, repeating what was said in his text. The guys were getting even closer. "Maryse told me what you did. You can't keep on doing things like that." His voice was menacing. It terrified me. "What's wrong, Hardy? You don't seem so much like a man now, huh? Come on; fight me."

He was too close now. I couldn't run away even if I tried. All of the jocks were there. Zack Ryder, Chris Irvine, Ted Dibiase, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and more. They were all around me, sparking my fear even more.

The look on Mike's face told me that, even in a dream, he wasn't going to take it easy on me. I wished that I had some clue as to what he was talking about. Nothing was adding up. I had never done anything at all to Maryse. Nothing cruel, anyway.

The group of torturers was circling me. In my mind, I kept praying that they wouldn't touch me. They were all stronger than me alone. What would they be like combined?

My dream was not going my way. If I had been in control of the situation, I wouldn't mind so much. But I wasn't. Everything was being dominated by the jocks of the school.

Mike began shouting things at me. Obscenities, insults, you name it. He called me a coward, a jerk, spineless, a no good, rotten human being. I actually thought that some of the names he threw out fit him a lot better. I wouldn't dare to say that to his face though.

Standing just a few centimeters away from me, Mike mouthed the word "freak" to me. His friends knew what he did and began to snicker. They were all in it together.

Mike just smirked at me condescendingly. "Well, that is all you are, Hardy. A rainbow haired freak show. You look like you belong to a circus, for Pete's sake! Why don't you just live with the carnival people when they come to town? Maybe then you'd fit in somewhere."

I looked down. For the most part, I knew that I didn't belong. I'd known it since I was little. My dream was right. He was right.

"Look at this, boys," he said to his group. "I think I made the little baby cry." He laughed. "Yeah, you're definitely not tough now." He lifted his hand and all I saw was it about to come into contact with my face…

**x-X-x**

I woke up in a cold sweat. I was shivering. Terrified. Thankfully, my nightmare had no real conclusion, not one that I actually witnessed. It just appeared to be over. After that, I was unable to go back to sleep. I thought about what might happen in school tomorrow. I had an uneasy feeling that Mike was going to make me pay tomorrow.

**Was that any good? I like it somewhat but it hurts, you know? Let me know if you like it, if I should continue, and so on in a review. :)**


	2. Straight Into Darkness

**A/N: I'm grateful for the response I got to the first chapter. This one's a little easier—still hard—and I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: A well-known fact is that I do not own anything…**

_Chapter 2: Straight Into Darkness_

"Jeff, come on! Breakfast's ready!" Matt called, most likely from the kitchen.

One thing was for sure: I did not want to go to school. If Mike was going to be anywhere around me, I didn't want any part of it. I had a belief that most dreams meant something, and if my previous dream was any indication, only bad things could happen.

I mumbled something incoherently into my pillow, knowing full well that no one would hear me, and went downstairs after changing my clothes.

"Want some eggs?" asked Matt when I sat down at the table. Before I even answered, he set a plate in front of me. "I didn't poison them or anything, trust me. I'm a Hardy." He smirked.

Luckily, I was going to say yes anyway to the eggs so I started digging in immediately. "Thanks. I still don't know if you're believable but I'm too hungry to care."

"Figured as much," he said with a laugh.

I looked at the clock on the microwave. "Dad at work already?" I asked him. Our dad was usually at his job fairly early but normally he was home to say good-bye before school.

"Yeah," Matt answered. "He said something yesterday about working earlier. You must've been in your room or something."

"Oh." I took a bite of my meal. "What were you and Shane doing last night? I couldn't even hear myself think." I might have been just trying to make conversation—and distract myself in the process—but it was true; they didn't shut up.

He shrugged. "Nothing really. We just weren't happy with the TV. They were playing junky shows."

"Well, that doesn't sound very fun at all," I commented.

Matt pointed at me. "You haven't sat and listened to the things that Shane says. If you had, you would know that it is fun."

"Whatever you say, man," I told him, getting up from my seat since I finished my breakfast. "Hey, you should totally give me a ride to school."

Shaking his head, he said, "No can do, bro. You know how it goes. You take the bus while I drive my car. This is common knowledge. Get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it," I muttered back. I started walking back toward my room when Matt came up behind me to stop me.

"How 'bout I take you to school tomorrow morning? I can't today but if you want—"

"Sure," I interrupted. "But maybe I'll change my mind by then."

"Oh, you know you want to ride with the coolest person around." Matt stretched his arms out wide. "Everyone does."

I simply waved him off and headed straight to my bedroom where I stared at the ceiling until it was time for the bus to stop.

Just minutes later, I was standing on the driveway, waiting for the bus, my shoes against the gravel. I was pretty much praying that Mike wasn't on the bus, that he wouldn't be at school. I knew it was wishful thinking and I knew it was no use but I did it anyway.

While I waited and tried to clear my mind, I pulled out my iPod and put on the one band that I felt could understand me: Pearl Jam. As the grunge gems of "Jeremy" and "Evenflow" rang through my ears, I escaped the world if just for a few minutes.

When the bus arrived, all my previous fears came flooding back. What would I do if Mike was on? What would I do if he tried to start a fight? My mind was now racing as I walked up the three steps.

True to her promise, Maria sat in the middle of the bus, saving me a seat with her oversized purse. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her make-up done to a minimum for the day. She moved the zebra-print bag when I approached her. "Hi, Jeff," she said, being her normal cheery self. "How's it going?"

"F-fine," I stammered a reply. "Um…How 'bout you?"

She smiled, obviously pleased that I asked. "Well," she began. "Today, I am going to absolutely shine in Spanish class. You wanna know why?"

For the time being, her excitement calmed my nerves and I found myself grinning with her. Her exuberance was contagious. "Sure, why?"

With shining eyes, she stared at me but not in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. It was a way that couldn't be described. "Okay, we are doing a…" She mimicked a drum roll. "…fashion show!"

I blinked at her. "And you're happy about that?"

"Yeah! How could I not be? I get to dress up in all kinds of weird, flashy clothes. It's going to be great."

Grimacing slightly, I asked, "You actually like that type of stuff?" I didn't like having to take a language to begin with. The last thing I was going to want to do is dress like an idiot and have to describe it in said language.

"I take it you don't?" she guessed correctly. When I shook my head, she giggled. "But Jeff, it's so much fun. You just get to be a little crazy. And you should know all about that. You're the one who dyes your hair, right?"

I shook my head at her. "That's different. I don't do this for…school purposes."

Maria snorted. "School purposes? What's that supposed to mean? I don't even know if that makes any sense at all. And I thought all of the language classes have to do that. Aren't you guys having a fashion show in French class?"

My face twisted a bit at the mention of French. The only reason I was taking that class was because Maryse had forced me to. I could hear her now telling me that if I learned her native tongue, we would have a closer bond. I turned my attention back to Maria after regaining my composure. "I don't know. The teacher hasn't said anything."

"Well, that's odd." Maria began to ponder over why I didn't have an answer for her. Luckily though, she didn't do that for long. "Did you ever wonder why we have Latin class? I mean, it is a dead language, isn't it?"

I shrugged. "As far as I know."

"Then why are we learning it?" pressed Maria. "It's obviously dead for a reason."

"Doctors and vets use it, I think," I replied. Both occupations were ones that I was not interested in. I liked people for the most part and I loved animals but I would never be able to work with them or operate on them.

But Maria beat me to saying it. "Not my thing at all. Can you imagine being a surgeon?" She shuddered at her own question. "Ugh. It's just plain disgusting. And what if they die on you?"

"It wouldn't be pretty." I was planning on elaborating more on the topic with her but the bus came to another stop. I looked out the window and knew immediately whose house we were at.

The grandiose white manor that we were in front of belonged to none other than Mike Mizanin.

Instantly, I felt the pain of a punch that never happened in real life, only in Slumberland. My heart was thumping, loud and fast. I wondered idly if Maria could hear it. One look at her told me she didn't. She was too busy looking over her Spanish notes.

Mike was making his way toward me, a smirk firmly planted on his face. With a plan in mind, he took the seat right behind me, considering the others surrounding me were already occupied. "Hey, Jeff," he practically snarled. "You hear from Maryse?"

Forget thumping—my heart was dropping to the pit of my stomach. "No," I answered quietly. "I haven't."

It looked as if Mike had much more to say but Maria cut him off. She turned around and looked at him. "Hey, Mike," she said sweetly. "If you don't mind, Jeff was kinda helping me with my Spanish homework. I have studying to do. So if you could just not talk to us, that would be great." She flashed him a smile and Mike said nothing so she looked back at me.

I heard Mike sit back in his seat with a huff and I was composed right away. I looked over at Maria, a grin on my own face. "Thanks," I whispered.

Maria just shrugged it off. "It's nothing. You didn't look very comfortable so I intervened," she whispered back. Then, she said, "If there's something going on with you and Maryse, you can tell me. You know that, right?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I figured that. I just…I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"

Her smile was still there when she said, "Okay, I understand. Just know that I'm here."

**x-X-x**

To my utter disbelief, Mike backed off the entire way to school. Maybe he was somewhat afraid of Maria. How that was possible, I had no idea but at least he was out of my hair.

Despite that, I was still ill at ease and it must have been pretty noticeable because Shannon was at my side all day, kind of like a bodyguard, even though he was smaller than me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him at some point since he appeared to be in stoic, protective mode.

His eyes were shifty and he was starting to freak me out. "I'm not doing anything," he said. "I'm just being a friend, watching your back."

"You wanna explain?"

He just shook his head. "Don't know why I'd have to."

"Well, you look like an idiot," I told him, noticing that everyone in the halls was gawking at him.

"What?" he asked, annoyed. "Are you too cool for me? You know there was a time when you wouldn't even try to judge me on this stuff. Then you got with Frenchie and everything went sour."

_That's not what's really sour_, I thought to myself. "Look, Shan, that's not what I meant and you know that. It's just…me and Maryse, we're not…"

Shannon's eyes were as wide as saucers. "She broke up with you, didn't she?" He shook his head, outrage evident on his face, and scoffed. "Like she can do any better than you. Hey, I'm sorry for saying that stuff. How ya holdin' up then?"

I wasn't exactly sure what to tell him. If I told him about the nightmare of the night before, he'd probably listen but then tell me to go beat Mike up. But there was a problem: Mike hadn't actually done anything to me. Sure, he had taunted me but there was no more substance. Besides, I didn't think Shannon was the right person to talk to about this. So all I said was, "I've been better."

After patting my arm lightly, Shannon said, "I think you're gonna be better off without her anyway. The moment she realizes what she's missin' out on, she'll be crawlin' back, begging you for another chance. And you'll decline, of course," he tacked on at the end.

"Right," I said, rolling my eyes. He had the right idea but I wasn't so sure if I would refuse Maryse.

"It's gonna be fine," he assured me and something told me that he wasn't wrong. It just might take longer than I would like it to take.

Later on in the day, after school had ended, I found myself leaning on my locker. The day had gone a lot quicker than I had originally thought it would. But it was yet to be completely over.

I heard him before I saw him. "Jeffrey," Mike said in a sing-song voice. "Where are you?" When I gave no reply, he continued. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

The next thing I knew, he was right there in front of me. My breathing hitched. "What do you want?" I inquired, worry lacing my voice.

Mike cocked his head to the side. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He smiled and something about it was very menacing. "But I was wondering…Have you talked to Maryse today?"

I shook my head but said nothing. Talking about our breakup with Shannon was one thing. Talking about it with Mike was something completely different.

"Huh," he said. "Well, isn't that just the strangest thing ever? Because, you know, _I _talked to her. I figured you'd want to talk to her. Apologize to her."

That had me baffled again, saying it was my fault. I had no idea what I had to apologize to her for. What was she telling people? What had I done? "Mike, I…I don't know what you're talking about."

Mike threw his head back and laughed. "Of course that's what you'd say. I'm not surprised. People never cop to this stuff."

"What stuff?" I asked but Mike was then walking away. "Wait!" I called. He didn't turn back around. I didn't get it at all. What was happening?

Shortly after that, I made my way onto the bus for the second time that day. For some reason, I hadn't seen Shannon since that last talk with him, which was unusual. We always made a point to talk to each other before going home.

The first person I saw was Maria. Maybe that was done on purpose, maybe she was the only one I wanted to see. But there she was, waving me over. It was funny how at ease we were with each other so soon. "How was your little Spanish thing today?" I asked her.

Her green eyes brightened, and, man, she looked beautiful. "I think I did pretty good. I really liked it. The class is so cool."

I smiled at her, pushing Mike far from my mind. I wasn't going to let him get to me, not then. "So you're a star Spanish student?"

"It comes pretty natural," she said. "I swear, sometimes, I think I was Spanish in another life. I was probably one of those dancers in Spain."

Laughing lightly, I said, "Yeah, I can imagine you doing that."

Our bus ride was peaceful, probably because Mike was strangely not on. Neither were his little buddies though. Things were getting surreal.

A half hour later, as I made my way off the bus, I saw Matt, pain on his face, coming toward me, phone in hand. "Jeff," he said, breathless and worried. "Shannon's mom just called."

He didn't say anymore so I stared him down. "What? What'd she say?"

"After school," he said. "Shannon, he…he got beat up real bad. No one knows who did it but you know the flagpole outside the school? Someone must've rammed him into it. At the very least, he's got a broken nose. And he's just in shock. They're taking him to the hospital. We gotta go see him."

I was frozen. It was just a little while ago that I was laughing and talking with Maria. Meanwhile, my best friend was getting tortured.

And they said no one knew who did it. But I did. I knew exactly who did it.

_Mike._

**Any good? Not at all? Let me know in a review. I'm very curious to see what you guys think about it. :)**


	3. Wake Up Time

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. School and stuff…Ugh. Thanks for reviewing and everything. It makes my day. I hope you like this chapter. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not look, sound, or act like Vincent Kennedy McMahon (okay, not all the time) so I guess I do not own WWE. Nor do I own the song,**_** Wake Up Time**_**, which appears in this chapter.**

_Chapter 3: Wake Up Time_

We were on our way to the hospital in Matt's car. Shane, who was also friends with Shannon, was in with us. I was feeling more guilt than anything else. I could have prevented this. I should have told him about Mike.

But I didn't. And now my best friend was hurting because of my mistake.

Since Matt was speeding—I was shocked no cops got us—we made it to the nearby hospital in record time. We immediately rushed out of the car and into the waiting room of the building. The receptionist was glaring at us as we got close to us.

"We're here to see our friend, Shannon Moore," Matt told her.

She looked up over her black-framed glasses. "Your friend, you say? We don't allow friends in the patients' rooms. Just family."

"But we may as well be his family!" exclaimed Matt but he didn't press any further. He just shook his head, for he knew he wasn't getting anywhere. "Can we just sit down and wait a while then?"

Looking up again in annoyance, she said, "Yes and stay out of my hair."

"Will do," mumbled Matt, walking toward the waiting room.

We all sat down with heavy hearts. My whole being was filled with guilt. I kept telling myself that I could have stopped this from happening. It could have been prevented. I should have gone out looking for Shannon instead of getting on the bus to be with Maria. What was my problem? What was I thinking?

"Jeff?" I heard Matt say in a worried tone. "Are you okay? You're looking kinda pale, bro."

I shook my head to clear it. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just worried about Shannon. I'm fine."

"Okay," Matt said slowly, unsure whether to believe me or not. "But you know if there's something wrong, you can tell me, right? I'm always all ears."

"Uh-huh, I know." I knew I could talk to him, I just didn't want to right then. I just wanted to criticize my capability of being a friend. It wasn't looking too good.

Matt and Shane were off in their own conversation, making assumptions and predictions about what probably happened to Shannon. I didn't listen to anything they were saying. It hurt too much.

We waited for what seemed like hours for someone to come out and tell us how Shannon was. It was never-ending torture. All I wanted at was someone to come over and say, "Shannon's gonna be okay."

But no one was saying anything.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of a person who would listen to me.

"Hello?" said the voice.

"Maria," I sighed.

When she spoke again, her voice was much more frantic than before. "Oh, my gosh. Jeff, did you hear about Shannon?" she asked instantly.

I looked over at Matt and Shane. "Yeah," I answered. "I'm at the hospital right now." I didn't mention to her how hospitals make me sick, reminding me of the last time I was at one. Then, I was watching my mother fade away.

"Do you know how he is? Have you seen him?"

I was taken aback by how worried she was. I never knew that they were so close. But then, maybe they weren't. Maybe this was just Maria's natural reaction. "No," I replied. "They won't let us in. I'm with my brother and his friend."

"Do you have any idea what happened?" was the next question she fired off.

_Yes_, I wanted to say but instead thought it. _Yes. But I don't just have an idea. I know exactly what happened. And it's my fault._ My actual words were, "I heard that he got beat up pretty bad."

"I wonder who did it," she mused thoughtfully.

My heart was screaming, telling me to say who it was. My brain, however, was not so forthcoming. I went with the brain this time around. "I have no clue at all."

By then, I was fighting heavily with my conscience. To say something or not to say something—that is the question. By not saying anything, I felt like a grand load was being put on my shoulders.

Maria was still trying to make sense of it all. "Well, is there anyone who really hates him or something? You would know, wouldn't you? You guys are pretty much best friends, right?"

"No, not pretty much," I said. "We are best friends, plain and simple."

"But that didn't answer my question," she pressed. "Who do you think could have done this?"

"Damn it, Maria," I slightly exploded. "I told you before I don't know." My face instantly fell. What I said—it was a blatant lie. That much was apparent. It burned in my soul to say that. But what really hurt was saying that to Maria. She got real quiet right away. "Maria?" I said cautiously.

She gave no answer.

I tried again. "Maria." Since she still wasn't saying anything, I continued. "Maria, listen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry," I repeated.

"It's fine." Her voice was muted, not nearly as peppy as usual. She appeared to just be shrugging it off. "I…I know you didn't mean it. It's okay. You're just upset about Shannon. I get it."

"But I shouldn't have—"

"Jeff," she interrupted. "I told you it was all right. Don't worry about it."

I sighed, deciding not to argue with her. If she said it was fine, I was going to have to take her word for it. Though I was about to say more to her, I couldn't, for a nurse was walking into the waiting room. "Hey, Maria," I said. "I think I gotta go. We might get to see Shannon now."

"Okay," she replied. "Tell him I'm wishing him a speedy recovery, all right?"

"Yep, I will. See ya," I told her.

"Bye, Jeff."

I pressed the end button on my cell phone and stared at the nurse, who was now standing in front of Matt.

"Are y'all Shannon's friends?" she asked, her southern accent really coming through.

The three of us nodded, silent.

"The doctor said that you're allowed to see him now. Just be careful. He's not in such good shape, as you probably guessed. His nose is broken, his right arm is fractured. It ain't pretty."

Matt spoke for us. "Yeah, we figured that."

"Well, just follow me," the nurse began, "and I'll take you to his room."

Before I got up out of my chair, I swallowed hard. I could only imagine how hard I it was going to be looking at Shannon, beaten and battered, because of me.

We followed the nurse's trail back to the second room. Before she opened the door, she reminded us once more to be quiet. "He may be sleeping," she also warned. "And he's in a pretty fragile state, as are his parents." She silently turned the doorknob and the door was open.

There Shannon lay, looking more frail and weak than I had ever seen him. It took my breath away and in the worst way possible. Staring at him, I felt my heart shatter.

His mother was slowly unraveling. Her head was next to his on the pillow and she was on the edge of tears. She had probably cried too much already. I wondered if there could actually be any more tears inside her.

"Mrs. Moore," Matt said, coming up behind her. He rested a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "How is he?"

She looked up at him, moisture springing at her eyes, and said, "Well, I've seen him better." And with that, she had a breakdown.

Sobs emanated from inside, along with more tears than I thought possible to be shed. Her body was literally shaking, she was crying so hard.

Shannon's dad was right beside her, holding his wife, trying to make it all go away.

But this was something that wouldn't just fly away. This was serious. It would last longer than I wished.

Matt, Shane, and I all could only watch on. There was nothing that could be done. Nothing that could be said.

"Mrs. Moore?" Matt said again, this time in a whisper. "Mrs. Moore, is there anything we can do?"

Staring at him, defiance in her eyes, she practically barked, "Find out who did this to my baby."

_Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned_, I thought to myself but then quickly, my thoughts took on another direction. The same direction they had been in before. _I know who it is! _If I told her it was Mike, I might wind up worse off than Shannon. If I didn't tell her…Well, I didn't really know for sure what would happen either way.

So, yet again, I kept my mouth shut.

"We don't know who it is," Matt was saying. "But trust me, we will find out." The way he spoke, with such conviction, made my brother sound even more confident than usual.

I, however, didn't have what he had. I was already shaking in my boots. Whether it was from guilt or fear, I didn't know.

I needed help in a bad way.

When it didn't seem like Shannon was going to wake up anytime soon, we left the hospital with an assurance that he would, without a doubt, recover. It was the only comfort we were given that day.

As we drove home, Matt spoke to our dad on his cell phone. "Dad, Shannon's not well." There was a pause. "Yeah, a broken nose and somethin' with his arm." Another bout of silent Matt. "I don't know. If we find out more, we'll definitely tell you. I'll see you at home. Bye." He put his phone in his pocket and was quiet the rest of the way to our house.

Once we got there, I was still feeling jittery. Nothing wakes you up like seeing your best friend after he's been broken and knowing you could have helped.

Shane and Matt occupied the living room when we were home so I holed up in my bedroom with only my thoughts.

How long would it be until Shannon was better? What would school be like without him? What would life be like without him? Would I meet the same fate as him at the hands of Mike? Or would it be worse for me?

The biggest mystery was why was this happening? Mike kept saying it was because of what I had done to Maryse, but I hadn't done anything. She broke up with me. Apparently, that didn't matter. It was still all my fault somehow.

I was feeling sick. Not in the way that I would throw up or anything. But more of a disgust with myself. Everything was my fault, and if it wasn't, people, including myself, had a great way of convincing me that it was.

I needed to get out. Out of that room, out of that house, out of that town, out of that whole entire world. It wasn't my place. Maybe it was at some point but not now.

I picked up my iPod, grabbed my jacket, and stormed out of my room, down the hall.

Sitting on the couch was Matt and Shane, watching some stupid T.V. show. "Where you goin'?" asked my brother.

"Out for a walk," I muttered in response before walking out the door.

As I walked down the street, I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and started scrolling through the list of songs, finally stopping at one I hadn't heard in a long time. I was still moving when the piano and vocals kicked in.

"_You follow your feelings, you follow your dreams._

_You follow the leader into the trees._

_And what out there waiting, neither one of us knows._

_You gotta keep one eye opened the further you go._

_Well, you never dreamed you'd go down on one knee, but now_

_Who could've seen you'd be so hard to please somehow._

_You feel like a poor boy, a long way from home._

_You're just a poor boy, a long way from home._

_And it's wake up time._

_Time to open up your eyes._

_And rise and shine…"_

The song continued and I got to thinking that I could relate to it. I was doing so the longer it went on.

I realized that I had to stop turning a blind eye to the world around me. There was going to be pain, there was going to be heartbreak. There would be ups and there would be downs. But that was life. There was no getting around it.

But I could beat it.

Now, with my renewed self-power, I stopped my walk and turned around to head back to my house.

I could get through this. If I truly wanted to, I could overcome it. It might not be tomorrow—hell, it might not be for another ten years—but I would be able to rise above if I put my mind to it.

And I was going to try to put my mind to it.

It was going to be hard, it was going to be difficult but what part of life isn't? I had to find my resolve. I had to shove my fear into a dark corner. I had to find a way to be stronger. For me and for Shannon. I had to do the unthinkable.

I had to rat on Mike.

It was a daunting task, one that would take up all of the courage I could muster. But I was willing to do it. Even if it meant hurting myself soon, it also meant I'd be helping myself in the long run.

I was then walking through our front door, knowing exactly what my plan was.

**Once again, my sincerest apologies go out to you all. I know it takes me forever to update but if you, please, bear with me, it'll all work out. Oh, and if you ever get the chance, take my advice and go see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert. It's their song that was used in this chapter. No words describe how fantastic they are live.**

**Anyway, why don't you tell me what you think in a review? :)**


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